This blog was created for Niles Animal Hospital & Bird Medical Center by Peter S. Sakas DVM in an effort to provide information & discussion about animal related issues. It may move into some eccentric directions on occasion if the mood strikes me as I get more comfortable in this form of communication. I am open to suggestions & comments about the blog. Also view our hospital website www.nilesanimalhospital.com or Facebook page Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center.

Eliminating the Suffering of
Chickens Bred for MeatBy Karen Davis, PhD, President of United
Poultry Concerns
"The misery of egg-laying birds has been
well-documented, but what about the life of chickens
bred for eating?" Andrew Purvis, "Pecking
Order," The Guardian, Sept. 23, 2006.
Chickens are the largest number of land animals bred
specifically for human consumption. Globally, more than
40 billion chickens are slaughtered each year for meat
out of an estimated 65 billion animals killed annually
for this purpose. Nine billion chickens die in the
United States alone each year. Approximately 5 billion
egg-laying hens are in battery cages throughout the
world, many of them in production complexes holding a
million or more birds.
Despite the disparity in numbers, battery-caged hens
have received much more attention to their plight than
chickens bred for meat have received. One reason, I
believe, is that the suffering of egg-laying hens in
battery cages is much more dramatically apparent to most
people than the suffering of chickens in broiler sheds.
Hens crammed together in battery cages allow an onlooker
to distinguish a few hens out of thousands, and images
of their suffering and frustration, their entanglement
in wires and beating of their wings against cage bars,
disturb even people who are unfamiliar with chickens. By
contrast, chickens bred for meat are not raised in
cages, although this could change by the end of the
twenty-first century.
Chickens bred for meat are raised to six weeks old on
floors in long low sheds the size of football fields,
where they appear in their first week of life as
thousands of indistinguishable yellow chicks, eating,
drinking, and mixing with the sawdust and wood chips. In
the weeks that follow, their weight multiplies many
times over until, sitting heavily and inert in layers of
excrement, lame and in pain, they appear to a person
standing in the doorway of the stench-filled shed like
lumps of dough stretching into the dark.

Photo: David Harp

My own acquaintance with "broiler" chickens began in
the mid-1980s when my husband and I rented a house on a
piece of land that included a backyard chicken shed in
Maryland. One day in June about a hundred young chickens
appeared in the shed. A few weeks later the chickens
were huge. I knew little about chickens at the time, but
I was impressed by how crippled they were.
The chicken industry tells the public that thanks to
research, better management, diet and other
improvements, poultry diseases have been practically
eliminated. However, industry publications and my own
experience tell a totally different story. A big part of
this story concerns what has been done to chickens
genetically to create a heavy, fast-growing bird,
falsely promoted to consumers as "healthy," even though
poultry is considered the most common cause of foodborne
illness in consumer households.
Chickens bred for meat have been rendered ill and
unfit as a result of genetic manipulation, unwholesome
diets, drugs, antibiotics, and the toxic air and bedding
in the sheds where they live in almost complete
darkness. Their bodies are abnormal. As I wrote in my
book Prisoned
Chickens, Poisoned Eggs: An Inside Look at the
Modern Poultry Industry, "When you pick up
a chicken on the road who has fallen off a truck on the
way to slaughter, the huge white bird with the little
peeping voice and baby blue eyes feels like liquid
cement."
Even if you rescue a chicken from a poultry shed at
one day old, the pathologies built into the bird will
emerge in the form of cardiovascular disease, crippled
joints, and an unnatural gait. The breast muscle grows
large and pendulous, and excess fat squeezes the
internal organs, impairing the bird's ability to
breathe. Respiratory distress is innate in these birds.
In the 1970s, a chicken farmer wrote, ironically, about
the new type of chicken then being bred, that "the sign
of a good meat flock is the number of birds dying from
heart attacks." This remains true today.
The chicken industry tells the public that the
"physical welfare" of chickens is very important to the
industry, and that economic profitability cannot be
achieved without careful attention to welfare. But that
is not how the system actually works. Chickens bred for
meat do not balloon out of all proportion in their
infancy because they are content and well-cared for, but
because they are artificially manipulated through
genetics and management techniques to produce this
outcome. In addition, they are slaughtered as babies,
before diseases and death have decimated the flocks as
they would otherwise do, even with all the drugs.
The question has been asked whether the suffering of
industrially-raised chickens could be scientifically
eliminated. What if scientists could create chickens and
other farmed animals whose "adjustment" to pathogenicity
consisted in their inability to experience their own
existence? In the early 1990s, an engineer predicted
that the future of chicken and egg production would come
to resemble "industrial-scale versions of the heart-lung
machines that brain-dead human beings need a court order
to get unplugged from" (Robert Burruss, "The Future of
Eggs," The BaltimoreSun, Dec. 29,
1993). As long as they don't "feel" anything, is it
ethical to do this to chickens?
Agribusiness philosopher Paul Thompson has argued that
if blind chickens "don't mind" being crowded together in
confinement as much as do chickens who can see, it would
"improve animal welfare" to breed blind chickens (Paul
Thompson. "Welfare as an Ethical Issue: Are Blind
Chickens the Answer?" in Bioethics Symposium,
USDA, Jan. 23, 2007). A breeder of featherless chickens
in Israel claims "welfare" benefits for naked chickens
on factory farms, despite the fact that feathers help to
protect the birds' delicate skin from injuries and
infections, which is all the more necessary in an
environment that is as thick with aerial pollution and
ammoniated, fecal-soaked floors as industrial chicken
sheds are. Philosopher Peter Singer, asked if he would
consider it ethical to engineer a "brainless bird,"
grown strictly for meat, said he would consider it "an
ethical improvement on the present system, because it
would eliminate the suffering that these birds are
feeling" (Oliver Broudy, "The
Practical Ethicist," Salon, May 8,
2006.)
But would it eliminate the suffering these birds are
enduring? What if the chicken's brain could be
scientifically expunged? What if the elements of memory,
instinct, sensation and emotion could be eliminated and
a brainless chicken constructed? In the United Kingdom,
an architecture student named Andre Ford has proposed
what he calls the "Headless Chicken Solution" to the
suffering of chickens on factory farms. (Olivia Solon, "Food
project proposes Matrix-style vertical chicken farms."
Wired, Feb. 15, 2012)
Drawing on Paul Thompson's "Blind Chicken Solution,"
Ford envisions the removal of the chicken's cerebral
cortex. Removing the cerebral cortex, he says, would
inhibit the bird's sensory perceptions so that chickens
could be mass-produced without awareness of themselves
or their situation in a technologized universe that
would make it easier for the chicken industry to make
even more money facilitating ever greater consumption of
chicken products by a growing global human population.
Ford equates removing the chicken's brain with the
"removal of suffering," but the suffering of chickens on
factory farms is a matter of more complexity than
science fiction and conventional "welfare" solutions can
address. Chicken brain removal, far from removing
suffering, takes suffering – the condition of injury or
trauma whether consciously felt or not– to the ultimate
limit of destroying the integrity of the bird as such.
It accords with the agribusiness view of farmed animals
as mere biological raw material to be manipulated at
will.
Already, according to a poultry industry manual, "The
technology built into buildings and equipment [is]
embodied genetically into the chicken itself" (Bell and
Weaver, Commercial Chicken Meat andEgg
Production, 5th edition, 2002). Taking
this "embodiment" to the ultimate extreme of total avian
degradation is not the answer. If there is going to be
humanely-produced chicken in the future, the burgeoning
technology of "beyond meat," which replicates the
texture and taste of chicken flesh using all-plant
ingredients, will end the animal suffering, save the
birds, be kinder to the planet and better for us. It
will truly be something to crow about. (Brad Stone, "Venture
Capital Sees Promise in Lab-Created Eco-Foods," Bloomberg
BusinessWeek, Jan. 24, 2013.) KAREN
DAVIS, PhD is the President of United Poultry
Concerns, a nonprofit organization that promotes the
compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl
including a sanctuary for chickens in Virginia. She is
the author of several books including Prisoned
Chickens, Poisoned Eggs: An Inside Look at the ModernPoultry Industry (2009). http://www.upc-online.org
Karen Davis, PhD, President
United Poultry Concerns
PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405
Office: 757-678-7875
Email: Karen@upc-online.org

Here is a video demonstration of how hot it can get in a parked car for a pet (and people!) in hot weather, even with the windows cracked. Too many pets die and suffer because of being left in a hot car, because of owners not being aware of how dangerously hot it does get in these cars.

This is a very effective demonstration and will make you see how significantly elevated the temperature becomes and how deadly this situation is for any pet/person left inside these cars. It is imperative not to put them in this situation and please share this information with others so we can prevent any of these tragedies as during the summer heat (but it can also happen during hot days in other seasons as well).

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

This is a true story about an amazing teacher who taught her students a wonderful lesson about things we take for granted. It is also a lesson and story we can also learn from as well.

I checked this out on Snopes and it is true!

Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a
social studies school teacher at RobinsonHigh School in Little Rock did something not to be forgotten. On the
first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the
principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her
classroom.

When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there
were no desks.

'Ms. Cothren, where are our desks?'

She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the
right to sit at a desk.'

They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.'

'No,' she said.

'Maybe it's our behavior.'

She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.'

And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third
period. Still no desks in the classroom.

By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms. Cothren's
classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of
her room.

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats
on the floor of the desk-less classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the
day no one has been able to tell me just what he or she has done to earn the
right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am
going to tell you.'

At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and
opened it.

Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that
classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school
desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall. By
the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to
understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to
sit at those desks had been earned....

Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These
heroes did it for you . They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you
to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be
good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an
education. Don't ever forget it.'

By the way, this is a true story. And this teacher was awarded Teacher of
the Year for the state of Arkansas in 2006.

*Please consider passing this along so others won't forget either that
the liberties and freedoms we have in this great country were earned by U. S.
Veterans, past and present!*

Natura Pet Issues New Dog And Cat Food Recall

June 18, 2013 3:28 PM

CHICAGO (CBS) — Nebraska-based Natura Pet Products
has announced a new voluntary recall of multiple brands of dry pet food
and treats. The decision comes after a positive test for Salmonella on
April 3.
This is the latest in a series of recalls involving the company in the past year.

The FDA says Salmonella can affect animals eating the products and
there is a risk to humans if they handle the contaminated pet products.
Expert say it’s important to thoroughly wash hands after having contact
with the products or any surfaces exposed to these products.

The FDA says pets with Salmonella infections may be lethargic and
have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Other pets will
experience decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain.

According to a news release issued by the FDA, the Natura products in
question were were packaged in a single production facility. The
positive test for Salmonella came during routine FDA testing. So far
there have been no reports of pet or human illness associated with
products involved in this latest recall.

Natura says the affected products were sold at veterinary clinics,
select pet specialty retailers, and online in the U.S. and Canada. No
canned wet food is affected by the recall.

Friday, June 7, 2013

How Pooches Can Replace Drugs

Dogs may help to correct certain human mental health disorders by
beneficially affecting brain chemistry and function, a new study
suggests.

The research shows how interacting with dogs improves mood
among teenagers living in residential treatment centers. In this case,
the teens were in therapy for drug or alcohol abuse.

"We suggest that the dog interaction activities and/or the dog
itself could potentially serve as a non-drug stimulus that may heighten
the adolescents' response to naturally occurring stimuli therefore
potentially helping to restore the brain's normal process," said Lindsay
Ellsworth, who led the research.

Ellsworth, a doctoral candidate at Washington State University,
brought dogs from the Spokane Humane Society to the Excelsior Youth
Center, also in Spokane. Teen participants were all males.
During daily recreation time at Excelsior, some of the teens
played pool, video games or basketball. Another group interacted with
the dogs, by brushing, feeding and playing with them. Before and after
the activities, the teens filled an assessment used to scale and study
emotion.

Ellsworth suspects that social companionship with dogs may
stimulate the release of opioids, psychoactive chemicals that can
relieve pain and promote pleasurable feelings. Certain drugs -- legal
and illegal -- bind to opioid receptors in the brain, but the
doggy-produced high is natural with no side effects.

Repeated drug use can significantly alter opioid systems,
leaving the person feeling lonely or depressed. Social companionship
with dogs appears to help alleviate these negative states.

"The relationship between humans and dogs has been in existence
for thousands of years," Ellsworth explained. "They actively seek out
their owner’s attention and, from the human perception, they provide
displays of affection.

She described how one teen at the center with behavioral problems benefited from the animals.

“During his first couple of encounters with the dogs, he had to
learn how to control his behavior in order not to startle the dogs,”
she said, adding that "his tone and voice eventually became quieter, his
stroke softer, his moves more calculated versus spontaneous, and he
appeared to become more aware of himself and how he was acting."

After sessions with the dogs, his interactions with staff improved, becoming "positive and productive."
"It could be a really novel, cost-effective and beneficial
complement to traditional treatments," said animal behaviorist Ruth
Newberry about using dogs to help treat substance abuse. "This could be a
win-win innovation for everyone involved, including the dogs."

Jaak Panksepp, chair of Animal Well-Being Science at WSU,
added, “This is wonderful research, and highlights how companion animals
can promote therapy with teenagers who have emotional problems.”
Ellsworth suspects that dogs similarly benefit the mental
health of adults, children and seniors too. Interaction with cats likely
also stimulates opioid release, particularly for people who are already
feline fanciers.